Former APCON boss canvasses telecoms deployment in public communication
A former Chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Lolu Akinwunmi, has advocated for a merger process between the current Information and Culture Ministry and the Ministry of Communications.
The resulting merger of the two ministries, he said should lead to the creation of a new ministry to be called Ministry of Public Communications which would be better positioned to bring about enhanced process of effective public communication in post digital era of present day Nigeria.
The proposal was part of the emanating outcomes of the National Advertising Conference which ended recently in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
In a keynote address he delivered at the two-day conference, Akinwunmi, Group Managing Director/CEO, Prima Garnet Ogilvy Africa, observed that the new born public communications ministry will do superlatively well, if existing infrastructures of the telecoms service providers namely, MTN, AIRTEL, GLO and 9mobile were deployed towards achieving efficiency in disseminating information to the Nigerian public.
Addressing a huge forum of marketing and marketing communications practitioners, including public and private sector dignitaries and captains of industry, Akinwunmi noted that globally, the concept of a stand-alone Ministry of Information had largely become weak, and to that extent, Nigeria needed to upgrade as well.
“I am using this opportunity to advocate something different from the structure we have now, but which I strongly believe will enhance the process of effective public communication in the post-digital era.
“The proposed merger of the current Ministry of Information & Culture and the Ministry of Communication to form the Ministry of Public Communication will solve many current challenges and provide limitless opportunities in the area of public communication,” he said.
According to the former president of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), the combined power and influence of the Information and the Communication Ministries will create a more effective public communication vehicle.
Akinwunmi, giving further highlights of expected benefits and gains of the proposed merger, added that since the current Communication Ministry supervises the existing telecoms operators whose technology has been driving an efficient global communication and information exchanges for 200 million Nigerians, the proposed Ministry of Public Communication would therefore be able to reach more people with speed and efficiency. He believes that can be achieved using mobile phone, social media, email etc., and relying on the existing infrastructure of the current Ministry of Communication under the operations of the telecoms.
The proposed Ministry, he added could develop and manage new platforms for sharing information and critical data, receiving feedback, managing opinions with speed and precision among other things.
“It is going to offer such amazing possibilities, and the good news is that we are not re-inventing the wheel because the infrastructure already exists under government management via the Ministry of Communications. This can also be extended to service providers like the DSTv and others like it,” he added.
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